Friska Wirya

Enterprises have never invested more in AI, yet success rates still sit in the single digits. The barrier is rarely the technology; it's adoption, the deeply human work of moving an organization from compliance to conviction. In this provocative, evidence-led talk, Friska Wirya shares how she turned AI from a line-item expense into US$170 million in annual value inside one of the world's largest and most conservative gold miners, while preventing thousands of injuries and helping save lives across operations in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Canada. She reveals why the winners in the age of AI won't be those with the best models, but those whose people actually use them, and hands leaders the practitioner's blueprint for making transformation stick: the leadership moves, adoption levers and cultural design that convert isolated pilots into enterprise-wide, board-defensible impact. It is an eye-opening reframe of AI as a leadership challenge before a technology one, and a roadmap for turning change from an organization's Achilles heel into its most durable competitive advantage.

Attendee Results:

• Understand why 85% of AI initiatives stall, and the ""emotional tax"" leaders must lower before adoption can take hold.
• Learn to lead the human side of AI, role-modelling adoption so change lands at the frontline, not just the boardroom.
• Discover the adoption roadmap and levers that shift hearts and minds, even in high-stakes, safety-critical, change-resistant environments.
• Master the discipline of unlearning legacy mindsets, so established cultures can adopt new technology at speed.
• Walk away with CFO-ready proof points that reframe AI spend as measurable, sustained enterprise value.